Attachment for electric lamps



May 22, 1934. CQLEMAN 1,960,049

I ATTACHMENT FOR ELECTRIC LAMPS Filed March 17, 1952 Inventor:

""fierzbi C'aZemalz F73. by M 9 y, g

His Abborn ey.

Patented May 22, 1934 S'TTES ATENT OFFIE My invention relates to attachments for electric lamps. More in particular my invention relates to means for attaching shields to electric lamps in headlamps, such as used on automobiles, in order to cut off the light radiated directly from the filament of the electric lamp in order to minimize the glare from such headlamp.

Shields of the foregoing character have been used heretofore but the attaching means have been unsatisfactory, in that some sort of locking means is required to hold the shield in place or in that, when such locking means is not used the jolting oi the vehicle displaces the shield.

, It is an object of my invention to provide a shield with means for readily attaching the same to the bulb of the electric lamp, between the bulb and the lens of the headlampby merely slipping the attaching means about the bulb and for readily detaching the shield from the bulb by merely withdrawing the attaching means from about the bulb, said attaching means comprising a pair of long resilient arms suitably anchored to the shield and designed to hug the bulb between them and designed also with terminal portions I adapted to hug between them the base region of the bulb.

It is also an object of my invention to construct said arms from one or more strands of resilient material, the section of the strand forming each 0 arm being folded to form two branches, each branch following the side contour of the bulb in the head lamp, said branches being joined at the end by a transverse section of the strand, said section being curved to follow the contour of the stem of the bulb or of the socket transversely of the said branches.

It is also an object to provide a pair of short supporting arms anchored to the said shield, said short arms being located along an axial plane between the said long arms for preventing the shield from rotating about the bulb and about an axis transversely of said plane.

The foregoing and other objects of my invention, the principles thereof and certain specific means demonstrating their application such as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, will be more fully understood from the following more detail description, of said means the elements thereof, their arrangement and operation, reference being had to said drawing, in which:--

Fig. 1 is an inside and sectional view in elevation of a headlamp provided with one embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top View of the electric lamp of Fig.

1, somewhat enlarged with the attachment shown in said figure correspondingly enlarged.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the electric lamp and of the attachment of Fig. 1 enlarged.

Fig. 4 is a View in perspective of the attachment of Fig. 1, enlarged.

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of a modification of the device.

Fig. 6 is a side view of a modified form of the device of my invention attached to an electric lamp, the arms of the device being longer than those in Fig. 2 and reaches as far as the base of the lamp.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the headlamp of Fig. 1 comprises a casing 2, a reflector 3, a lens 4, a lamp socket 5 and an electric lamp 6 all of the usual and well known construction. The attachment comprises a shield '7 with resilient means in the form of long arms 8 and 9 and short arms 10 and 11. Preferably the long arms are made as a unit from a single strand,

as indicated in Fig. 4. The section of the strand forming each arm is, asindicated, folded to form two branches. For example arm 8 comprises two branches at and b and the arm 9 comprises two similar branches 0 and d. Each of these branches is curved to follow the side contour of the lamp bulb 6, as indicated in Fig. 2. The branches of each arm are joined at each end thereof by a transverse section of the strand, said section being curved to follow the annular contour of the base of the bulb or of the socket. For example, the two branches a and b are joined by the transverse section e and the branchesc and d by the transverse section f. These transverse sections are curved, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 to con form to the curvature of the base region of the bulb, that is, to the curvature of the base of the bulb or of its socket as indicated in Figs. 2 and ,6. Similarly the branches b and d may be connected by a bridging section h of the strand and the branches a and c by a bridging section 71 of the strand. However, these bridging sections 71.

and i may be severed if it should be desired, or

more convenient, to have the arm 8 made of one strand and arm 9 of another separate strand.

The arms 8 and 9 may be secured to the shield '7 in any suitable manner. For example by spot welding or by means of a clamping plate 12, see Fig. 5, which plate is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. This plate may be secured to the shield by means of a screw 13 the perforation 14, in the central portion of the shield being threaded for that purpose. Or instead, a nut may be provided on the front side of the shield for receiving end of the screw.

With reference to the short arms and 11, these preferably are made of a unit strand as indicated in Fig. 5, of wire for example, which may be spot welded to the shield or clamped thereto also by the screw 13; the strand being provided with a perforation 15 for permitting the stem of the screw to pass through. On the other hand, all of the arms may be welded or otherwise secured to the plate 12 which may in turn be secured to the shield 7 in any suitable manner, by screw 13 for instance.

It will be seen that since the long arms have each two branches, and since, they are oppositely disposed with respect to the bulb, along an axial plane of the bulb cutting said arms between their branches, and since said armsextendforward to the base region of the bulb and conform to the the shape of the bulb, said arms constitutemeans foreffectively preventing the shield from rotating about an axis transwise said plane. The length of the short arms 10 and 11 is such that when the arms 8 and 9 are properly seated the ends of the short arms strike the bulb in the region of the band 16, which band has a major diameter along a plane :r-r perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bulb, substantially less or even approximately half that of the major or equitorial diameter of the bulb in plane y-y, Fig. 3, parallel to plane x x. This band of-the bulbmay be roughened to increase the friction between the ends of the short arms and-the bulb, and also between the heels 17 of the branches a-bcd and the bulb. It will be seen that the short arms being oppositely disposed with respect to the axis of the bulb and being located in an axial plane of the bulb, transverse the axial plane that passes between the branches of the long arms, such short arms serve as effective props for the shield to prevent any rotation of the shield about an axis perpendicular to said last axial plane of the bulb through the short arms. It will be seen that the short arms curve about a point in the longitudinal axis of the bulb and that such curvature is greater than that of the frontportion of the bulb.

A device such as I have described may be read ily snapped over the bulbs of the headlamps of an automobile, for instance, as indicated in Fig. l, with the result that any direct rays from the filament 18, would be cut off as indicated by thedotted lines 19. The device may beremoved from the bulbs just as readily so that when a filament burns out the shield may be removed, a new lamp substituted and the old shield readily replaced in the headlamp.

What I claim is:

1. In an automobile headlamp, in combination, an electric lamp bulb, means for holding said bulb with its longitudinal axis in a horizontal position, a light shield, means attached to said shield and engaging the bulb of said lamp, for supporting said shield in a position across the longitudinal axis of said bulb, said means comprising a pair of long arms, between which said bulb is located, said lamp supporting said arms, the latter being oppositely disposed with respect to said axis along an axial plane through said axis, said arms extending beyond a plane through a major cross section of the bulb, said cross section plane being perpendicular to said axis, said means comprising also a pair of short arms, the latter being oppositely disposed with respect to said axis along another axial plane, through said axis, perpendicular to said axial plane first mentioned, each short arm having a curvature about a point in said axis greater than that of said bulb in the region. thereof in front of said cross section plane, whereby said shield may be locked and maintained in its said position across said longitudinal axis Whether the automobile is running or standing still, said short arms engaging said bulb within a narrow band in said region, around said axis.

2. In combination, a light shield, means for attaching said shield to the bulb of an electric lamp of an automobile headlamp, said means comprising a unit piece of wire formed, along a first plane perpendicular to said shield and about a first axis parallel to said shield, into an open first loop, and formed also along a second plane perpendicular to said shield and parallel to said first plane and also about said first axis, into an open second loop, said shield being: attached to the closed portion of each of said loops opposite the corresponding mentioned open portion of each of said loops, said wirebeing also formed, along a third plane, the latter being. parallel to saidshield, and about a second axis, the latter being perpendicular to said shield, intoa third loop, the latter being open at two points located opposite-each other, one of the open points of the said thirdloop merging with the openpoint of the said first loop, andthe other of the open points of the saidthird loop-merging with the open point of the said second loop, the said first and second loops being parallel to each other and being adapted w om between them. said bulb, and a second unit piece of wire formed, along a fourth plane the latter extending through both of said axes, concave with respect to-a third axis, the latter being also parallel to the said first and second planes, said second wire unit being attached to said shield ata point on the latter between said first and second planes and at which said second axis meets said shield, whereby the said bulb of theheadlamp may be also located between said third loopand the ends of said second wire unit.

FREDERICK COLEMAN. 

